The papers will be evaluated by the WAC Student Committee (WACSC) (whose research covers a wide range of innovative archaeological practices representing diverse geographical perspectives) along with a distinguished archaeological scholar representing the Editorial Board of the WAC journal Archaeologies.

Submissions will be evaluated based on the following criteria:

  • The quality and depth of scholarship and arguments presented;
  • The significance of contribution to understanding of a particular topic in archaeology;
  • The relevance to the larger goals and interests of WAC;
  • The effectiveness of presentation (including clarity and adherence to format).

The winner of the WAC Student Writing Competition will receive a citation from the WAC Executive, a 4-year membership to WAC, and guarantee of review for possible publication of the paper in a future edition of Archaeologies.

Previous competitions
In 2008 the WACSC successfully organised the inaugural student writing competition for WAC-6 in Dublin. Prizes were awarded for the Best Paper and Best Poster with a runner up for each category. The winners were:

First Place Paper: Kathryn Lafrenz Samuels for “Trajectories of value: international heritage management of archaeology for the reduction of poverty”
Runner-up Paper: Jennifer Rodrigues for “The 1993 historic shipwrecks amnesty in Australia”
First Place Poster: Mathew Coller for “SahulTime: rethinking archaeological representation in the digital age”
Runner-up Poster: Shibutani Ayako for “Late Pleistocene to early Holocene plant movements in Southern Kyushu, Japan”

We organised the Student Writing Competition in 2010 and in 2011/2012. The winners were respectively Hilary Soderland (2010) for “The ‘Burden of Affiliation’: Repatriation and Indigeneity within the Domain of United States Archaeology” and Goce Naumov (2011-12) for “Together We Stand – Divided We Fall: representation and fragmentation among Govrlevo and Zelenikovo figurines”.

For the WAC-7 Conference the WACSC again ran a competition for Best Paper and Best Student Poster. The paper winner was Maria Victoria Roca for “Archaeology, heritage and development in two South American colonial sites: the Guarani-Jesuit Missions (1610 – 1767)”. The poster winner was Alaa Alrawaibah for ‘’Exploring new narratives for preserving and presenting archaeological heritage of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’’.

Current Deadline for Submission: December 6th, 2013

Requirements
Student applicants must be the single author of the paper submitted. Only previously unpublished papers are eligible. A digital copy of the paper, including references cited and relevant figures, must be submitted to the address below. Although the WACSC recognizes and appreciates that publication styles and languages differ throughout the world, to maintain consistency we ask that the paper be in English or Spanish, double-spaced, 12-point font, approximately 15-25 pages in length (including references cited and figures), and in the style of the Archaeologies journal, as described on the Springer Publications website:

http://www.springer.com/social+sciences/anthropology+and+archaeology/journal/11759

Submission Information
Please submit a digital copy of your paper (with no identifying information in the paper to maintain anonymity amongst reviewers) along with a cover sheet containing information below to WacStudentWritingCompetition@gmail.com

  • Your name -WAC membership number (indicated on a receipt of the payment of membership)
  • Rank/position and institution
  • Title of the paper
  • Postal mail and email address